Some pretty intense stuff in this episode. Malloy and Reed pull a car over and what seems basically routine turns very deadly. The passenger pulls out a gun but fortunately isn't aware that Reed is just outside the passenger side of the car. Things could have gone extremely bad and the partners are left pretty shaken up.
They're shaken up enough to get all jumpy at a later instance with another pulled over driver. This guy makes a sudden move (just to get his wallet and Identification) which results in Malloy and Reed immediately contemplating the worst. This is something not often seen on this show - the lead characters being shown on an uneasy alert. Actors Martin Milner and Kent McCord get a chance to show a further deepness to their characters.
That "further deepness" to the characters continues in a later matter concerning a relatively harmless teenage prank which leads to utter horror. This storyline is split into three separate parts. First, at a nice suburban house where Louise Tate II from "Bewitched" calls the police because a group of boys have t-p'd (toilet papered) her neighbors home. She heard glass break. Her neighbors, a father and teenaged daughter, are fine with the prank's results. They dismiss the police.
Second, the teenage daughter shows up at the police station to tell M & R that the prank boys think the father called the cops. She says the boys said they're going to get revenge. Malloy is a bit taken aback when the girl then goes off on a tangent about how "squaresville" her father is and that he thinks the boys are all sweet and nice and puppy-dog tails.
Third, Adam-12 has to return to the same home because the boys have returned - with chains and knives. Well, with knives anyway. The sweet young guys have stabbed Pops and have uprooted a small tree. The tree had been planted in memory of the Mom who had recently died.
A very shocking storyline. Not what viewers would expect, being a bit out of the norm for Adam-12. The closing moment is one of the best of any of the show's episodes. Reed steps out of "Police Officer Mode" and acts to replant the little tree with help from neighbor Louise. Heartwarming after having been heartbreaking.
Another surprising step beyond a usual norm for the show, is the revelation of the body of a pretty, young female, dead in the trunk of a car. This is the show wandering into some pretty dark, heavy territory it's not usually associated with. It's handled quite well.
They're shaken up enough to get all jumpy at a later instance with another pulled over driver. This guy makes a sudden move (just to get his wallet and Identification) which results in Malloy and Reed immediately contemplating the worst. This is something not often seen on this show - the lead characters being shown on an uneasy alert. Actors Martin Milner and Kent McCord get a chance to show a further deepness to their characters.
That "further deepness" to the characters continues in a later matter concerning a relatively harmless teenage prank which leads to utter horror. This storyline is split into three separate parts. First, at a nice suburban house where Louise Tate II from "Bewitched" calls the police because a group of boys have t-p'd (toilet papered) her neighbors home. She heard glass break. Her neighbors, a father and teenaged daughter, are fine with the prank's results. They dismiss the police.
Second, the teenage daughter shows up at the police station to tell M & R that the prank boys think the father called the cops. She says the boys said they're going to get revenge. Malloy is a bit taken aback when the girl then goes off on a tangent about how "squaresville" her father is and that he thinks the boys are all sweet and nice and puppy-dog tails.
Third, Adam-12 has to return to the same home because the boys have returned - with chains and knives. Well, with knives anyway. The sweet young guys have stabbed Pops and have uprooted a small tree. The tree had been planted in memory of the Mom who had recently died.
A very shocking storyline. Not what viewers would expect, being a bit out of the norm for Adam-12. The closing moment is one of the best of any of the show's episodes. Reed steps out of "Police Officer Mode" and acts to replant the little tree with help from neighbor Louise. Heartwarming after having been heartbreaking.
Another surprising step beyond a usual norm for the show, is the revelation of the body of a pretty, young female, dead in the trunk of a car. This is the show wandering into some pretty dark, heavy territory it's not usually associated with. It's handled quite well.